Pneumatic piano control



March 6, 1928.

O BALLARD PNEUMATIC PIANO CONTROL Filed Feb 23 1926 INVEN 1-1:

A TEIT\NIY Patented Mar. 6,1928.

UNITED srA res o'rrs BALLARD, or rofinno, onIo.

PNEUMATIC PIANO oon'rRoL;

Application filed February 23, 1926. Serial No. 89,945.

This invention relates to pneumatically Anti-Q1124 player pianos.

This inventionhas utility when incorporated in a pneumatically"controlled player piano forrendering such instrument capable of playing from reproducing types of playerpiano records.

hcferring to the drawings:-

Fig. 1 is a front view of a player piano; parts being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a plan view'of the device'of the invention herein, parts being broken away,

is a side view of the device of the invention herein, and r Fig. t is a View similar to Fig. 2, on a reduced scale, with the parts in shifted position.

Piano 1 has keys 2 for manual playing. However, it may be desired to reproduce music from a record, and then pedals 3 may operatesection pumps 4 for exhausting storage chambers 5, to create a suctionor vacuum therein. 5

Mainvcontrol duct 6 extends from one of said storage chambers to'pneumatic stacks 7 from which branch auxiliary control ducts 8 extending to tracker board 9 having openings 10 therein. Such tracker board extends across spool box 11. The tempo or speed of the piano is controlled by handle 12 and is displayed in the spool box by indicator 13.

Each key onthe' piano, say eighty-eight in number, is controlled by a separate action or notation motive element from the tracker board from which extends an auxiliary 0on trol line 8 to a hammer operating bellows'l l of its action, having communication with the stacks '7. VVhenthc player is of the suction type, and the pumps 4- are in operation, there is an intakeof air through the open ings in the tracker board, causing the cor responding bellows to be exhausted and by collapsing produce a note on the piano through the "hammer operating action. There is an opening in the tracker board for rendering effective the action of the note corresponding to each key 2.

When a record is inserted in the spool box and is driven to pass over the tracker board, each perforation in such record will move into registry with a corresponding opening in the tracker board and thus'cause the note for such opening to be played.

Due to the rarity of use of the extreme high and low notes of the piano, the tracker board openings therefor in reproducing pianos are allotted for operatin' devices for speed and sound volume. cial records operate "these devices through the medium of such range of the tr cker expression board. lvh'en these special records are played upon player pianos which type are not equipped with expression devices in such regions, the extreme liighand low notes are played out-of harmony-with the reproduced music, due to the perforations ofthe record passing over theextreme'notecontrol openings. The invention herein avoids suclr ob, jectionable operation and allows reproduc- Iing'records to be played as to its notation indpendently'of note interference on player pianos which are not equipped with the special expression devices as devices in the trackerboard range. A rec ord controlled piano having only notation motive elements and not equipped with the expression devices is known to the trade as a player-piano as distinguished from a reproducing piano which is a record controlled-piano having record controlled expression devices.

The spool box 11 is mounted 011 bracket 15 extending across the interior ofthe piano. Spaced from the spool box on the bracket 15 and on the opposite side thereof is member 16 fixedly mounted on the under side of the bracket 15 by screws 17. The member 16 has openings 18 therethrough, herein shown as ten, divided in two sets of five each. In each of the openings 18 there is pressedinetallic elbow ducts 19 to which ductsQO and ducts 21 extend from the terminal openings in the tracker board. one to each of the left five of the openings at the'left terminal of the tracker board,

while the ducts 21 extend respectively to the The ducts 20 extend live openings at the right terminal of the tracker board, the front. a

' Screws 22 in said member 18 have washers Q3 and 24 thereon with helical springs 25 therebetween to hold a secondmember 26 yieldably against the member 16. Packing 27 maybe gluedto the member 16 to form an air tight joint between these members 16, 26. The member 26 is similar to the member 16 and has openings 28 therethrough registering with the openings 18. The openings 28 areten in number divided into two sets of five each. Metallic elbow ducts 29 are pressed into the openings 28 which register with the openings, 18 having the metallic elbow ducts 19 therein. These five as looking into the piano from elbow ducts 29 each has an auxiliary duct extending to a hammer action control bel-' lows 14 for. the lowest five notes on the piano. The other set of openings 28 to the right of the member26 each has a metallic elbow duct 3l pressed in the openings 28 which register with the openings 18 equipped with elbow ducts 21 therein. f These metallic elbow ducts 31 have lines 32 extending therefrorn to' the hammer operating bellows 14 for the highest five notes on the piano.

. It will thus be seen that the auxiliary control ducts for theextreme notes of the piano.

, rendered inoperative.

' pass through. this member 16 and the member 26 which isrelatively shifted to form a multi-port valve device. The member 26 has slots 33 therein through which the screws 22 pass. This allows the member 26 to be shifted as to the member 16 thereby throwing the ducts28 out of registry with the ducts 18 so that these auxiliary air ducts are The member 26 has extension: 34 from which extends rod 35 to crank '36 keyed to shaft 37 fextending into the spool box 11 erator has full range ofthe piano. 'As the extreme five notes are rarely, if ever, used in themaking of records, there is no material loss of music due to'the cutting off of these ducts. T v

,Whatis claimed and it is desired to secure by UnitedStates Letters Patent is 2- l. A player-piano having a spool-box, a

tracker-board in said spool-box having a single line of apertures therein, notation mot ve elements controlled through a portion ofsaid apertures, expression controlling ele ments controlled through the remaining portion of said apertures, ducts from the notation portion of said tracker-board apertures 7 extending directly to said notation motive i elements, ,duct communication means from said expression controlling tracker-board apertures, a member remote from said tracker-board and provided with ports to which said duct communication means extend, a second member provided with ports and coacting with said first member, and duct communication means from the ports of said second member extending to said expression controlling elements, said members being shiftable one as to the other for bringing said ports into and out of registry.

'2. Aplayer-piano having a! spool-box, a tracker-board in said spool-box having a single line of apertures therein, notation motive elements controlled through a portion of said apertures, expression controlling elements controlled through the remaining por-- tion of said apertures, ducts from the notation controlling portion of said trackerboard apertures extending directly to said notation motive elements, a valve remote from said tracker-board comprising ,a pair of v relatively movable members, each provided with ports, ducts extending from the expression controlling element apertures to one of the ports of said members, ducts extending 'fI'QHLthG ports of the other of said members to said expression cont-rolling elements, and means n said spool-box for shifting one of said members as to the other for throwing thev ports out of registry and thereby ren-' 'dering said expression controlling ducts inoperative.

3. A player-piano having a spool-box, a tracker-board in said spool-box having a single line of apertures therein, notation motive elements controlled through a portion of said apertures, expression controlling ele- 1 ments controlled through the remaining portion of said apertures, ducts from the notation controlling apertures extending directly to saidnotation motive elements, a fixed bar remote from said spool-box having a series of ports therethrough, ducts extending from the expression controlling element apertures tosaid bar, second bar adjacent the first bar having a series of .ports. therethrough normally registeringwith the first bar ports, ducts as continuations of the ports in said second bar extending to the'ex'pression controlling elements,.and means extendingfromsaid'second bar to the spool-box for shifting said second bar as to the first bar for throwing the ports of the two bars into and out of registry.

In witness whereof I aifix my signature.

OTIS BALLARD.

GERTIFIGATE 0F GQRREGTION.

Patent No. 1,661,318. Granted March 6, 1928, to

OTIS BALLARD.

it is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 79, claim 2, strike out the Words "one of" and insert the same to follow after the word "of" in line 80; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the samemay conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office. 1

Signed and sealed this 3rd day of April, A. D. 1928.

M. J Meme,

Seal. Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

